Jago: The Millennium Galaxy Race

Vo: The ultimate power in the galaxy. The wielder possesses the strength to rule the entire galaxy, and shape it to their will. With Vo's current wielder the galaxy has been at peace for a thousand years, and it’s about to end. One can only wield Vo for a millennium before it is split into four smaller stones and sent across space. A grand race is held to determine who will be the next wielder of Vo, and become the new ruler of the galaxy.

The bounty hunting ship Jago and her crew are reluctant to participate in the race, but someone strong and vicious has been eyeing them. It doesn't help that aboard their ship is the most powerful of the fighting species, an Eyes of Blue, and they soon become a target as a lust for more power. There is no better opportunity than to claim the title of the greatest fighter and ruler of the galaxy, than with the Millennium Galaxy Race.

Chapters:

"Are you sure someone else has landed?" It was the first
time I heard Kiko sound seriously nervous.

"Yes." Tammy replied on her back.

We ran down the mountain as fast as we could and made great time
because of it. We were only about five minutes away when Tammy
told Kiko to let her down.

"Kiko drop me off here. Stellan and I will take the Jago to the
village."

Kiko nodded and set her down.

"Stellan look after her for me" Kiko told him as we took off
again.

"I will!" Stellan yelled back.

We ran fast downhill through the trees and it was getting harder
to keep up with her. Once most of the trees cleared, my heart
sank to the pit of my stomach.

The village was on fire.

Kiko took off sprinting. I tried to follow her but she out ran me
easily.

How could this happen to the village so quickly? We were only
gone less than a day.

My lungs, arms, legs all burned with pain from exertion but that
didn't stop me. I had to get there as soon as possible. Rei…
Cashel… and the others in the village… they had to be alright,
they just had to.

I reached the outskirts of the town. People were screaming in
terror as they ran from the burning houses. I ran to Vero's house
which had caught fire and called for Rei and Cashel but no one
was there.

I ran towards the other end of the village where a bunch of
unknown men were slaughtering anyone they could find, making
their way through the entire village. I hid behind a house to
catch my breath and to try and make sense of it all.

This can't be happening. Was there nothing I could do?

I peered around the corner when I heard something, a toddler
crying inside the house I was leaning against. I glanced around
to see if any of the men were around to see me, then I snuck
inside. I quickly scanned the house trying to pinpoint where the
crying was coming from. I found the toddler hiding under a bed,
eyes and cheeks red from tears.

"Sh sh sh it's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you" I whispered to her
and she quieted down a little. I remembered this little girl.
I've seen her around the village in her mother's arm. She was
only about three years old and her mother was nowhere in sight.

I gently took her in my arms and ran for the door.

A man with red glowing eyes stood at the doorway staring at me
with a sinister smile.

"Well… look what I found…" he said threateningly as he slowly
stalked toward me.

I took a step back and grabbed a kitchen knife with my free hand
that was lying on a nearby table.

"Stay back!" I said waving it around like I knew how to use the
knife.

He just chuckled at me and continued walking.

Behind him a silhouette appeared from the doorway and quickly
blasted him from behind. He fell to his knees and then thudded
face forward on the ground, exposing the shooter.

It was a girl with the same bright glowing red eyes as the man.
She lowered her blaster and called to me.

"Sarth!" she said.

It was Rei, but with different eyes. Her eyes made me nervous and
she could tell.

"It's me Rei!" she pleaded.

She looked and sounded like Rei, all except those petrifying red
eyes.

I slowly put the knife down and she came up and grabbed my hand
to lead me outside where people continued to frantically run
away.

"Give her to me," she said "I took all the kids up the mountain
and I can take her there."

I handed her the crying toddler.

"Have you seen Kiko?" I asked.

"She's right-" without warning she kicked me out of the way of a
blast from another man with red eyes. Kiko suddenly appeared and
struck the man from the side.

"Get out of here!" she turned to yell at us.

Then something I've never seen before or imagined could happen,
happened. A large, muscular man appeared out of nowhere right in
front of Kiko and struck her hard with his fist, sending her
flying across the ground. It was not a human punch.

"Kiko!" I screamed.

She quickly got up and adjusted herself to face the man, knife
out, in a defensive position.

I couldn't believe what I just saw. Who is this man who
was able to catch the amazing Kiko off guard?

I took a step toward her and slowly the man turned to face me.
His eyes were glowing vibrantly blue, a color like the Quwallie's
but with much more intensity and desire. A long scar ran across
from the bottom of one eye to chin of the other.

I remembered how the second fight with the Quwallie went for
Kiko. Looking at this man I knew he was a much better fighter
than the Quwallie, with much more experience.

For the first time since I've met her, I feared for Kiko's life.

"We need to move!" Rei took my arm.

"No! We can't leave her! This guy-" I started to say.

"I know what he is! Which is why we can't distract her by being
here!"

I was torn. I knew Rei was right but something about this guy
made me really nervous.

"I'll back away but I'm not leaving her" I decided.

Rei reluctantly agreed, "Fine, but stay out of sight. I'll be
right back."

She turned to leave with the toddler still in her arms.

I did as I promised and moved back, away from Kiko and this
mysterious fighter but not enough so I couldn't hear them.

"How did you find me?" Kiko asked, still in her defensive
position.

The man stopped and stood there. The other men with red eyes
began gathering around to watch. Apparently the man with blue
eyes was their leader.

The village continued burn down around them, and the screaming
had decreased drastically.

"I've been searching for you for years…" the man had a deep,
booming voice. "It doesn't matter how I found you. Now that I've
finally caught you, your power will be mine."

He suddenly disappeared again. This time Kiko was ready, but she
wasn't nearly as strong as he was. He threw her against a burning
log house and she went crashing through, exiting the other side.

Amazingly she got up and ran towards him. This time she was
catching on quicker and was able to avoid his attacks, which were
extremely fast. They exchanged blows and it looked about even but
that was only because the large man was holding back.

Someone came up behind me as I was watching Kiko and this man
intently. Their presence startled me. It was Stellan. He was also
watching Kiko intently as he came up next to me.

The two fighters were still going at it until one finally out
maneuvered the other. The man's speed increased even more and he
knocked Kiko onto her knees with both arms locked behind her
back.

"You've been with these humans for far too long Kai." He bent
over to whisper in her ear, "Or should I say… True Kai…"

Kiko angrily tried to jerk free but he had her pinned well.

"Tell me," he put his foot on her back, on top of her arms, and
shoved her to the ground. "Why do you fight it? Your magnificent
power."

Stellan flared with anger. "Hey you jerk!" he threw a rock at the
large man and it bounced off him like it hitting a stone wall.
"Get off of her!"

The man turned to Stellan and smiled.

"No! Stellan get back!" she struggled harder to get break away
from the man's clutches.

He laughed. "You fight for them? These puny beings are
worth nothing. They're lower than even the dirt we stand on." He
took out a blaster from his long trench coat and aimed it at
Stellan. "Why don't I just put him in the dirt where he belongs?"

"NO!" Kiko screamed.

The man fired the blaster but I tackled Stellan just in time for
him to avoid getting hit. He aimed the blaster at us again. This
time we wouldn't be able to run away in time. I covered Stellan
and readied myself to be blown to pieces, but it never came.

I looked up and saw the man smiling with excitement at Kiko, who
was now quietly facing the ground, seething with anger.

"Which one shall I kill first?" he asked her, his deep voice
brimming with excitement.

A humming sound rapidly approached. It sounded like the Jago.

The man looked up to the sky and at that moment, Kiko turned over
and kicked the man in the side with so much force that even
though he was able to block it, he skidded straight back at least
twenty feet leaving a carved trail where his feet dug into the
dirt ground.

As soon as they were apart, the Jago made its appearance and
started firing its large blasters at the men. Kiko ran toward us
and lifted us on our feet.

The long cables shot out from the ship and picked the three of us
up. Kiko took out her blaster and fired at the large blue eyed
man. The blasts didn't seem to hit him. He easily dodged them as
he watched us being towed into the ship with a smile on his face.

Once inside the ship, Rei helped Stellan up. "We're going to drop
you off with everyone else" she told him.

He realized what he would have to leave behind if he came with us
and he looked to the ground indecisively. "Promise me you guys
will come back" he said, finally making up his mind.

She smiled at him with tears in her eyes and gave him a hug. "I
promise we will."

Kiko stood looking through the red gel wall as they passed
treetops. The cables wrapped around Stellan as it prepared to set
him down.

"I know you can win" he said to her with a smile before the
cables took him through the gel and back to Dezner.

Kiko didn't react to his statement, nor did she make any sort of
movement as we began to ascend back into space.

Tammy's voice brought us back to a harsh reality, "Prepare to
leave Dezner's atmosphere."

We were now leaving our destroyed safe house to enter the
cutthroat race track.

Once we were satisfied about the distance we put between us and
the planet, we all met on the flight deck. It was full of somber
faces and fresh memories of death.

Rei was the first to speak, "How did they find us?"

Her eyes were back to their normal color but they were filled
with tears.

"It seems they were able to trace us" Tammy answered.

"Yeah but how?!" she raised her voice out of frustration. "They
killed them! They killed the villagers because we were
there! This was our fault! We shouldn't have gone there!"

She was getting it all off her chest, the emotions she held back
in order to save the village kids had caught up with her.

Kiko, who was standing in the corner of the room, turned and left
without a word and Rei fell to the table weeping out of
frustration and sorrow.

I wanted to know too, why and how this happened, but most of all
I wanted to know what we were going to do about it. Our safe
house was found and destroyed. Were we going to try and find a
new hiding spot and endanger more innocent lives?

Finally, after months of debate, Cashel finally gave in to what
he had been trying to avoid for a thousand years, declaring the
Jago's next mission with a whisper of a voice, "We have no
choice. We have to win the race." The creases were more prominent
on his face as he spoke. Only people who have spent as much time
with him as we have would know that the look on his face,
although trying not to show it, was just as sad as Rei's.

A few days went by and I hardly saw Kiko or Rei. When I did see
them in the sky deck one day, Kiko was consoling Rei, so I let
them be. Since I didn't want to disturb them, I went to Tammy.

She was almost always in her tech room working on a way to track
the stones.

"Who are they" I asked. "Kiko seemed to know the man with blue
eyes and Rei had the same red eyes as the men who slaughtered the
villagers."

It took a moment before Tammy answered, "They are the same as us,
competitors for the race. They are also from the same planet and
the same species as Rei and Kiko."

"They're the same species?"

"I'll start from the beginning since I now have clearance to tell
you this information" she set aside her work to talk to me. "Rei
and Kiko are from a planet called Drogonaaz."

"Drogonaaz? They're Drogonians?!" I interjected. "One of the most
vicious planets in the galaxy?! It really does exist?!" Indeed
some legends even reach the far edges of the galaxy like Sola.

Tammy stared at me, waiting for me to finish.

"Sorry," I said, "Please continue."

"Yes, Drogonaaz is in fact one of the most vicious planets
around. It breeds some of the galaxy's most feared warriors and
the planet is constantly in a state of civil war for more power.

There are two different types of species on Drogonaaz. One is
called Eyes of Red, the other is called Eyes of Blue.

The Eyes of Red are a less commonly known species. They do not
focus on fighting; rather their skills lie within their eyes.
They are able to see through another's eyes and also, sense the
presence and power of an Eyes of Blue. But they are also able to
soul link with other species, and like their name suggests, their
eyes turn a ruby red color when sensing an Eyes of Blue.

Unlike the Eyes of Red, Eyes of Blue always hunger for more
power. They are bred to be soldiers. Their eyes turn a glowing
blue after they've killed their first Eyes of Blue. They are
physically much stronger than a human with much keener senses.
They are also able to link to an inanimate object with their soul
stone, to greater heighten their power. They are said to possess
no fear and crave killing."

Does this mean that Kiko, the girl who saved my life, is actually
a bloodthirsty killer?

I realized I've never seen Kiko's eyes change color, nor were
they blue. "Is Kiko an Eyes of Red?"

"No. She's an Eyes of Blue."

Rei and Kiko didn't seem to fit with Tammy's explanation.

Tammy caught on to my confusion and continued, "Rei is a
different sort of Eyes of Red. A true Eyes of Red's eyes will
turn red when an Eyes of Blue is near. You have probably noticed
that Rei's eyes do not turn red around Kiko, who is an Eyes of
Blue. Instead, she can only sense other Eyes of Red."

I thought back to when I first saw Rei's glowing red eyes. She
was standing next to another Eyes of Red, her own species.

"Kiko's eyes are not blue because she is suppressing almost all
of her power. Lately, it's been harder for her to keep
suppressing that power. Cashel and Tiberius had both used their
powers to help contain Kiko's power. However, when Tiberius
turned into Vo and spread throughout the galaxy, his seal on Kiko
had also vanished, leaving a crack in the barriers so to speak."

Things were starting to make sense now, but how did the large
Eyes of Blue man find us on Dezner?

"Do you know who that man was? How did he find us?" I asked.

"I've already found him in the race manifest" Tammy responded as
a hologram picture of the large man popped up. "My guess is that
he used those Eyes of Red to track Kiko down."

I read the hologram info. His name is Ozias, home planet is
Drogonaaz, and species is Eyes of Blue. There he was. There was
no way we could let this man win Vo, he would destroy the galaxy
with it. And the only one who could stop him was apparently Kiko
for some reason.

"He said he wanted Kiko's power…"

"That is the main reason why Eyes of Blue live. It's called soul
stone collecting. When two Eyes of Blue commit their battle to
the death, they summon their soul stone. Their soul stone
heightens their power to the greatest extent, but at the cost of
its location. When they summon it, the stone becomes visible on
some part of their body. The only way to kill an Eyes of Blue
then is to destroy their soul stone, and the winner receives the
loser's power. If you gather enough power you receive a title,
Kai being the highest."

I got chills down my spine. I never would have guessed that
Kiko's species was the most formidable one in the galaxy.

I let Tammy continue working and went to my room to reflect on
everything I just learned. From then on we weren't trying to
avoid the race, we had to win it. If we didn't, who knows what
would happen to us and the galaxy. No pressure.

We had a meeting on the deck the next day to discuss our next
move.

Tammy spoke first, "I was able to assemble a makeshift tracking
device that can locate a stone on a given planet."

"How'd you do that?" Rei asked. These past few days have been
especially difficult for her but she tried not to show it.

"Since Cashel and Tiberius are of the same, particularly rare
species, I analyzed Cashel's chemical makeup and was able to
create a device that would locate any matching remnants found in
space."

I had a question, "Cashel how did you locate the stones during
the last race?"

He chuckled and took a swig of his drink. "Boy, I wasn't sober
enough to remember that. Plus it was a thousand years ago."

It was silent.

"Shall I continue?" Tammy asked.

I guess Cashel's prior experience was going to be no help at all.

Kiko spoke, "Have you found anything yet?"

"I am only able to scan a piece of the galaxy at a time and so
far I have found nothing. It could take months to find any trace
of a stone."

"Calm down Rei," said Cashel. "I'm sure most of the racers don't
have any clue on how to find the stones. At least we have a way
of tracking them now."

Rei sighed. "Alright, so we just have to wait until we find a
trail?"

"Yes," said Tammy, "that's currently our best and only option".

There was nothing else we could do but wait. It was actually
harder than it seemed. Kiko suggested that I learned how to
defend myself properly since we were now going to participate in
the dangerous race. She taught me the same dodging and defensive
moves that she taught Stellan and never any offensive moves.

It was hard at first but I eventually got pretty good at it. We
spent a lot of time sparring and even more time meditating.
Anytime I tried attacking instead of defending she would take me
down… hard. She made all of her movements look so graceful and
easy. I found myself wondering if it was hard for her to hold
back, but I never asked.

Rei taught me how to fire a blaster and aim at a target. I really
sucked at it. Even after weeks of practice it didn't seem like I
was getting any better but Rei was always optimistic about my
progress. Every day she told me I was getting better. I really
wasn't, but hearing her say that made me feel better, her too
probably. She would often use the memory flasher I got for her
and send Cashel images of my "progress" either with shooting or
with Kiko. I could sometimes hear him laughing all the way from
the flight deck and he would send her pictures back of funny
faces or pranks he pulled on Tammy.

After a while it didn't seem like we were in a life-threatening
race. We went back to our usual, routine, traveling life. I even
got Kiko and Tammy to play cards with Rei and I and those were
always full of laughter. Rei and Tammy were determined to
out-cheat each other but Tammy always won somehow. It was one of
the rare times you would see Tammy smiling.

One day I was relaxing in the sky deck with her, which was
unusual for someone who hardly ever sat still long enough to
actually be relaxing.

"Has it always been like this?" I asked her.

We were lying next to each other on one of the larger beds.

"No" she said honestly.

"It hasn't? Then how was it?"

"It's different with you around… more cheerful."

"Oh" I said smiling. Then I remembered the devastation we caused
on Dezner. "Do you ever have nightmares? Can you even have any?"

"I used to, until I joined the Jago." She paused. "I've noticed
that you've had a few since we left Dezner."

"You can tell?"

"Yes. I monitor your vital signs."

"Oh… yeah I've had a few" I sighed. "I'd never seen people get
killed right in front of me."

"You're actually taking it very well" she insisted.

I shrugged and we continued to watch the stars pass by.

"Are you ever going to tell her how you feel?" she asked out of
the blue.

I was startled, "What? What do you mean?"

"About Kiko…"

I hesitated. "Tell her what? There's nothing to tell her."

"Did I not just say I monitor your vital signs?"

I didn't even realize my heart was pounding faster.

"I… uh… guess I…"

"Hey, you called me?" Came Kiko's voice from the entrance hole.

I nearly fell off the bed from hearing her voice.

"Something wrong?" she added, giving me a concerned look.

"No. Why don't you join us?" said Tammy beckoning her to us.

"Sure alright"

My heart was beating out of control as I tried to make myself
relax when Kiko came to lie down on the bed beside me. Out of the
corner of my eye I saw a smile creep across Tammy's face. This
was all her evil plan for her own enjoyment.

I'm sure Tammy was enjoying every second of this. For someone who
didn't express much she sure enjoyed meddling with other's
feelings.

"How dare you have a star gazing party without me!" Rei bellowed
from the entrance hole.

Could this get anymore awkward? Thank you Tammy.

"Hey, I just got here myself" said Kiko scooting closer to me to
make room. Tammy wouldn't budge so I was left getting extremely
close to both of them.

Rei joined us on the bed, next to Kiko. "So what's going on?" she
asked.

"Nothing much… I think" said Kiko still hung up on my last few
comments.

She snuggled next to her, "Sounds fun."

No one spoke much after that. We just watched the stars go by and
enjoyed each other's company. I made myself a mental note to
never forget this moment, being together here with my friends…
and I just realized I'm surrounded by girls.

After about an hour I fell asleep, and when I woke up I found
Tammy asleep on my shoulder. Her hair was glowing in a peaceful,
soothing pattern. I made sure not to move so I wouldn't wake her.

I looked over to see Kiko was still awake and Rei was asleep on
her shoulder too.

She turned her head to face me, "I've never seen Tammy so
attached to someone" she whispered.

"I guess I make a good pillow" I joked.

"No. I've known her for years and I've never seen her so happy
since you've arrived."

I looked down on Tammy still in a peaceful sleep on my shoulder.
I remembered her telling me that she'd never really had friends
until joining the Jago.

"I know I can tell her anything. In fact, she knows me better
than myself."

Kiko smiled. "Those are the best kind of friends."

I looked over at Rei. "Like you and Rei?" I asked.

"I've known Rei a long time. I made a promise to protect her no
matter what."

It's true. Rei and Kiko were very close. Kiko was like Rei's
older, protective sister. They always seemed to know what the
other was thinking. Or maybe they were always in Rei's soul link,
which was possible.

There was one other thing I've wanted to ask her for some time
now.

"Kiko, how do you know Ozias?"

I was afraid I might have gone too far but she answered, "He's
from my planet. He's one of the strongest Eyes of Blue."

"He called you… True Kai…"

She cringed at the sound of the name. "I-" she started to say
until an alarm cut her off.

Beep beep beep beep. Tammy's hair flashed in the same
rhythmic pattern as the alarm. Not a moment later, all four of us
were sitting up on the bed awaiting Tammy's explanation.

She turned to the three of us with her serious, no-joke face and
said, "I have the location of the first stone."